The RING THING by Garrett Thomas

What The Audience Sees:

'This week Jamie took his ring off his finger and it jumped back on before our very eyes! Crazy!'

How It Went:

First off, let me apologize for writing this so late. My schedule is going beyond crazy so I'm going to start writing Magic Fridays sometime on the weekend (as opposed to Friday Night)-probably Sunday nights actually, so that the 2 of you reading these can do so first thing Monday morning.

Okay-the Ring Thing. Let me start off by saying I love ring tricks so I'm a bit biased already. I love this trick and it's probably the one I perform most often in my life right now. That said, a couple people really liked it and would ask to see it again, but with a definite intent to try and catch it. It somehow, in my performance, didn't come across in these instances as 'true magic', which is always what I'm shooting for, but rather true sleight of hand. This isn't necessarily a bad thing but it was interesting change from some of my other Magic Fridays.

Best Lines:

'YO! What the %^&^!! Do that again!!!'- a common phrase of the day.

'Get 'outta here...Now!- they were laughing, thankfully, when they said this.

Angry Bob Rating:

I have a co-worker (Bob) whose uncle was a magician and thereby has a good working knowledge of how magic works. He's pretty grumpy but likes Magic Friday's because he can tell me how he figured out how the effect is done... A high rating means he'll never figure it out.

I've had some questions about the Angry Bob Rating lately so let me elaborate. The Angry Bob Rating isn't a 'Will the public be able to figure it out' rating, nor is it a 'Magician Fooler' rating. It lies somewhere in the middle and is more of a fun thing than worthwhile information. Angry Bob's uncle was a magician, and I'm sure Angry Bob still busts out some magic tricks when I'm not looking, but he's the guy that you show things just to see if he can figure it out. I personally think that every magician should have someone like Angry Bob that they can just try and fool and not have to worry if he catches you or that he'll ask you to teach it to them. It also helps if they're extremely grumpy because when you do something right it shows.

Anyway, for The Ring Thing 1/5. I got caught. But, and this is a big but, Angry Bob was the only catcher. Be vigilant!

My Rating:

Because I perform this all the time you would think it would get the highest rating there is- but there's something that's holding me back. I'm not sure what, exactly. Maybe it's because I feel that this effect is a 'lead in' effect. A lot of times when I performed it someone would say (excitedly) 'Show us something else!' as opposed to the usual, 'That's incredible'. They were amazed, make no mistake, but they didn't seem satisfied. I'll think about this some more. In the meantime 8.75/10.

The JDG Tip:

I can't remember if Garrett mentions this, but it really helps to have your finger pointing more towards you as opposed to directly across. It points towards my left elbow in a line down my forearm.

Closing Thoughts:

I'm not sure if Garrett will ever read this but if he does, "Thanx!" This trick really fits my 'Show me a trick!' impromptu requirements to a T. Well done!

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!

Jamie D. Grant
www.whatizit.net
Vancouver Magician

p.s. Happy Anniversary!
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